France’s embattled leader Emmanuel Macron has announced a new large-scale labour reform, hoping to revive his political standing with a new “life-at-work pact” in the wake of a pension reform crisis that angered the nation and marred his second presidential mandate.

After months of political stalemate over the hotly-contested pension reform that would see the legal retirement age increase from 62 to 64, President Macron is focused on moving on.

The pension reform might not have been fully understood, Macron said in a formal declaration to the nation on Monday (17 April) but added that the show must go on.

He announced a series of reforms that would further “social justice”, help to “give meaning back to work”, and ultimately soothe the country’s anger,

At the crux of his speech was the announcement of a new labour reform, whose scope is wide but still vague. It could include a range of things, from salary increases to career progression, ‘wealth sharing’, and career-long training schemes.

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Working conditions need work

Improving working conditions in France has become critical.

A European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) study from September 2022 found that 71% of French workers thought there were good measures to protect workers’ health in their workplace – compared to an 80% EU-wide average.

Worse still: an average of 50% of French were exposed to severe time pressures, a figure that stands at 31% in the EU.

Finally, the study showed that 68% of French workers believe disclosing a mental health condition would negatively impact their career – the highest percentage across the entire EU bloc.

“When it comes to working conditions, France ranks very low in the EU”, Malo Mofakhami, a labour economist at Sorbonne University, told EURACTIV France.

“Day-to-day work life can be harassing: the French often complain workplaces are conflictual”, he added, claiming that hierarchical structures failed to give workers enough autonomy.

A Eurofound survey published in 2022 found that France ranked third-highest, after Denmark and the Netherlands, on experiencing at least one type of intimidation – including verbal abuse, unwanted sexual attention or bullying.

In total, almost 40% of all French workers consider themselves to be in ‘strained roles’, against a 30% EU average, according to the same study.

French-focused studies further point to exploding rates of burnout, standing at 34% in July 2022, which amounts to 2.5 million workers total, thrice pre-COVID levels.

Among a multitude of factors, Mofakhami blamed a poor social dialogue between unions and ministers over time. Unionisation rates have drastically fallen from 30.1% in 1949 to a mere 10.1% today, according to 2021 data from the French labour ministry.

Pensions reform points to France’s changing relationship to work

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Distributing national wealth fairly

“There is a work malaise in France”, warned Fadila Khattabi, a pro-Macron member of parliament and president of the Social Affairs Committee at the National Assembly.

In conversations with EURACTIV, she stressed the need to look into why work had become “a source of angst and worry while working conditions are worsening”.

For her, more must be done to support those with the most difficult jobs, and there should also be a fairer distribution of national wealth and more impactful social policies.

Khattabi welcomed the agreement found in February among workers and employers’ unions, which requires small companies to distribute shares or bonuses to workers when net company profits stand at a minimum of 1% of all revenues.

Unemployment rates in France have been more or less steadily falling since 2015, reaching 7% in the close of 2022 – nearing pre-2008 levels. Macron gave himself a 5% unemployment target by the end of his term in 2027.

Talk about pensions? Talk about work

But unions have so far turned their back on the government and refuse to go back to the negotiating table until the pension reform is completely done away with.

Cyril Chabanier, head of the centre-left CFTC union, told EURACTIV France that working conditions are essential but warned that “Macron’s announcements are very vague, and the question of work should have been discussed before the pension reform”.

“If you want to talk about pensions, you need to talk about work first”, he added.

All trade unions have turned down Macron’s invitation to meet in l’Elysée on Tuesday (18 April), in a rare show of unity and defiance against the president.

The political stalemate is not quite over and a new round of protests is planned for 1 May, while working conditions urgently need reviewing.

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